We start by finding out what your aims are, your target students and design a programme that meets your goals.

DELIVERY

You'll have a Project Manager to support you through your programme. We manage business volunteer recruitment, coordinate delivery, create bespoke briefing notes for volunteers and resources/workshops for your students.

IMPACT

We collate feedback from all of the schools, students and volunteers that take part in your programme and provide impact reports detailing student outcomes.

"The children are inspired and shone with awe at the world of work days. These activities lead to a love of school and contributed to our school - the most deprived primary school in Leeds - ending up in the top 1% of schools academically in the country."

Make the Grade for education

WHY GET INVOLVED?

The government’s new Careers Strategy highlights the importance of employers’ involvement in careers programmes, and how their taking part in well-planned, face-to-face activities with young people is vital to “support individuals to grow and develop.” Under this new strategy, schools and colleges are compelled to provide their students with at least one encounter with an employer each year. Our Make the Grade education partners are already achieving this with our help.

The Good Careers Guidance Reportdefines the key features of a successful careers programme (known as the Gatsby benchmarks). The government’s Careers Strategy requires all schools to implement these benchmarks and Make the Grade can help them do it.

Multiple studies have established links between contact with employers and improved confidence, attainment, motivation and social mobility.

Source: What is to be gained through partnership? Exploring the value of education-employer relationships – Education & Employers Taskforce, October 2010

Make the Grade is a bespoke service that provides exciting and engaging employer-led, face-to-face careers activities for students from Year 5 to undergraduate level.

We bring together local employers to plan and deliver a flexible range of activities tailored for your students which will offer them an insight into a breadth of industries, enhance key employability skills and address gaps within your careers provision.

Here's how our flexible activities can help your school/activity meet the Gatsby benchmarks:

Careers Events

Panel/Speech

Interview Practice

Mentor

Enterprise Challenge

Workshop

Visit

WoW Day

Social Action

1. Contributes to a stable careers programme

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2. Learning from career and Labour Market Information *

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3. Addressing the needs of each pupil

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4. Linking curriculum learning to careers *

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5. Encounters with employers/employees

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6. Experiences of workplaces *

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7. Encounters with further/higher education *

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8. Complements and wraps around personal guidance

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Activities vary according to local need and target group, and with investment from large employers and public funders, such as the government-backed Careers & Enterprise Company, we are able to offer additional funded activities to our school, college or university partners to bring even more value for money.

In 2017, an independent evaluation confirmed that Make the Grade is a highly effective and scalable service that ensures tangible and lasting impact and exceptional value for money. Find out more about how we know Make the Grade works by clicking here.

See the latest examples of how young people are benefiting from their school, college or university’sMake the Grade activities >>